Well, my husband's one month away-on-business turned into two and a half. So, I apologize for my near non-existence here on dA...but most likely you still won't see a lot of me here. With warm weather arriving and two young children who like to play outside - my days will be busy gardening and chasing the kids around the yard lol. Nights will be devoted to my hubby and of course my shoppe, mellowbutterfly.

Andrew is down to his last few days of preschool - he loves it so much I don't think he is going to adjust well to not going. Emma is my wild child - she gets into everything, climbs on everything and quite frankly scares the bejeezus out of me! I can't believe how different my kids are - Andrew was (and still is) so fearful of new things and needed a lot of reassurance to do simple things like swinging or going down the slide. Emma on-the-other-hand would stand up in her swing if I let her and would go down the slide face first lol You have no idea how many times I have turned around to find her standing on top of our kitchen table. Yes, you read that correctly

For those who have been wondering about my niece, Madison...well, she had the surgery to remove her tumor. Unfortunately it was not as successful as they hoped so she ended up having to have the radiation treatments after all. She just recently finished her radiation treatments and this week they started her back on that nasty chemo that makes her so sick. I believe she has six more months of that to go. So, that is where things are at with her.

If you haven't stopped over at my website, MellowButterfly you should drop in! It's gone under a major redesign, I have new products for sale and I've started building an awesome Creative Team who are going to help run fun challenges and create fabulous digital art and scrapbooking layouts with my products.

Speaking of the Creative Team - I am actually looking for a few more talented artists to join the team for the summer. You'd be getting some of my products for free each month to create cool stuff with - all you have to do is post what you make in some online galleries to help promote my products. And, you get to organize and host a fun challenge on the Team Blog. So, if that sounds like something you are interested in, shoot me a note and I can tell you more details about it!

The first challenge, Motherhood (being hosted by ME) is posted on our and comes complete with a freebie. This challenge is geared toward scrapbooking - but could very, very easily be a digital mixed media challenge if you think outside the box! I've been on a digital scrapbooking kick the last few months - but I do have some artsy stuff planned too - so don't be turned off by the word scrapbooking. So much of the stuff I've been labeling as scrapbooking supplies can be used in collage, mixed media, altered art, and even digital art (for example, my last deviation is a mix of scrapbooking and stock!



There are some more exciting things in the works - but you'll have to wait until the details are all worked out before I can tell you about them!

In case you've missed it, this year I've been putting out a monthly article called Remarkable Resources where I, along with some other fabulous deviants, feature what we hope to be some real gems from the resources gallery that would be of interest to a wide variety of artists.

We focus on all the resources (except stock photography, because I still think of that as a separate category AND there are enough people pimping stock) but even so, I still think we are still some important areas - like fractal resources and film resources. Not because we don't think they are worthy of featuring, but simply because so far, we haven't had any volunteers to pick features who USE those types of resources.

So, please, please, please consider volunteering to help scour the resources gallery for gems to feature. Especially if the type of resources you use aren't getting exposure right now! If you're interested, just send me a note!

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....I told my pal, *Mollinda that I'd donate some journal features to her Bee Contest.... well, the winners have been announced, you've probably already seen them since I am soooooo far behind, but nonetheless, they are still worthy of yet another feature! So, without further ado, here are the features:

Molly's Personal Choice Winner & Third Place 2D Winner

beeautiful day by *mr-boonshine
That is made out of PAPER folks - isn't that awesome!?! I love this style - gives me ideas for my newfound love of digital scrapbooking.....hmmmmm......

2D First Place Winner

Apotheosis by *pfors
Hey now, didn't he win MY contest too? Well, you know that means you better go check out his gallery....right now!

2D Second Place Winner

Salute to summer by =kangel
If this is manga/anime, then maybe I've msitakenly given that genre a bad rap - because I LIKE this!

3D Winner

Bee Boy by *eyefeather
Wait, is this the same eyefeather who makes those awesome masks? Let me check....OMFG - it is! This is a gallery you must go check out!

Stock/Resources Winner

Beez Pleez PS brush set by *E-Derby
Toooo cute - love this, must find a reason to use these!

Literature Winner

Apiculture by *fllnthblnk
Been interrupted by my kids 3 times whilst trying to read this - now I remember why I don't get to enjoy reading GOOD literature since becoming a mom - lol, I'm not allowed enough time to savor the little nuances!